MONTHLY WILDLIFE RESEARCH LETTER 
' f 
Department of Conservation and Natural History Survey, Cooperating 
Thomas G. Scott, Editor 
Urbana, Illinois August, 1962 Vol. 5* No. 8 
I. Pheasant Populations and Land Use J. E. Warnock, G. 8. Joselyn 
The standardized counts of pheasant broods taken on the Sibley area during 
July and August, 1962, revealed 12.6 per cent fewer broods than recorded in 1961 . 
The number of broods observed along 640 miles of roadside transect (two, 40-mile 
routes driven weekly) was 249 broods in 1962 compared to 285 in 1961 ; comparable 
counts were 235* 198* 240, and 194 broods in I960, 1959* 1958, and 1957* respec¬ 
tively. 
The number of adult pheasant hens observed during July and August along these 
same 640 miles of roadside decreased from 478 hens in 1 96 1 to 374 hens in 1962, or 
21.8 per cent. A total of 43*5 per cent of the adult hens observed in l 96 1 were 
broodless compared to 42.8 per cent in 1962. 
These data indicate a decrease in both the adult hen population and the pro¬ 
duction of young pheasants on the Sibley study area in 1962. 
2. Manipulation of Pheasant Habitat D. E. Newman 
Roadside observations of pheasant brocds indicate that broods utilized man¬ 
ipulated plots to a significantly greater extent than unmanipulated plots. Table 1. 
Ninety-one per cent of the broods observed occurred in or opposite manipulated 
plots. However, these data do not consider the influence that types of agricul¬ 
tural crops located adjacent to the roadside plots may have exerted on brood move¬ 
ments. 
Table 1. —Observations of broods along 7 miles of roadway, containing both 
manipulated and unmanipulated plots. 
Location of 
Broods 
Percentage 
of Roadsides 
Number of Broods* 
Seen 
Theoretical 
rci ui 
Total Broods Seen 
In or opposite seeded 
(one side) plots 
50 
87 
72 
60 
In seeded (both sides) 
plots 
25 
44 
36 
31 
In control (both sides) 
plots 
25 
13 
36 
9 
Total 
100 
144 
144 
100 
* Chi-square value « 19 
.58 with 2 d.f. 
Ref. X 2 
.005 = 10 . 60 . 
This Chi-square 
va i ue 
indicates that it is highly probable that pheasant broods utilized manipulated plot': 
to a greater degree than would be expected on the basis of random occupancy. 
OCT 11 1962 
NATURAL 
HISTORY SURVEY 
IIRRARY 
